


Peach Sky

by RafaelaFranzen



Series: Colour and Light [2]
Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: If you understand the implications of the endnotes you'll get it, Kinda sorta Fix-it, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 07:26:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17421608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RafaelaFranzen/pseuds/RafaelaFranzen
Summary: An old couple reminisces under a peach sky.Fluffy, winter-themed, mild fix-it Merlahad set at an indeterminate amount of time after The Golden Circle.Shameless impromptu sequel toLike It Was, inspired by pictures of the sunset on 13 Jan 2018 posted to the r/London subreddit.





	Peach Sky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Madpineapple](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madpineapple/gifts).



> I recently found [a picture](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/af7ctq/breathtaking_winter_sunrise/) of a winter pond flanked by snow-laden trees under a pink-orange sky that almost perfectly illustrates a scene I wrote in _Like It Was_ and wrote it off as a beautiful coincidence. Two days later r/London was flooded with [pictures](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/afumx8/london_had_the_most_amazing_sunset_last_night/) of [the city](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/afvx9j/the_sunset_in_soho/) bathed in [the light](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/afullu/rose_pink_clouds_camden/) of the same [gorgeous sky](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/afwkno/sunset_off_plantation_wharf/). I couldn't avoid such an obvious sign from the universe to give in to procrastination and wrote this as a break from work on my thesis. Enjoy!
> 
> Also, by happy coincidence this somewhat fills a prompt requested by @madpineapple for the 2018 Kingsman stocking stuffers involving ice skating, so this is for you <3

From the viewing gallery of the Tate Modern, the steel expanse of the Millennium Bridge glowed in the soft dusk light. Awash in a palette of pink and orange with wispy smears of purple and grey-blue where clouds hung low, the sky looked as if Monet’s hand had reached down from the heavens, ready to mount a revival of impressionism.

All across London people stopped. To look out the windows. To raise their cameras. To take a slow breath.

Amidst the Sunday sightseers was a couple at a corner of the balcony. One bald gentleman in a cable-knit sweater supported himself against the rail, his scarf flapping violently in the breeze. The other in a heavy wool coat curled his right arm protectively around the first gentleman’s waist, the left hand resting atop his partner’s gripping the railing.

Had the sunset not been so diverting, people might have stared. Not in admiration, longing, or even disgust – but to wonder at the story behind the black patch that obscured an eye, and the pair of curved carbon fiber blades that took the place of feet.

\---

“It’s been a long day. Are you sure you don’t want to head back indoors? Maybe have a sit in the café for a bit before security shoos us out to close up?”

Merlin continued gazing across the Thames, seeming oblivious to Harry’s concern. It wasn’t that he couldn’t feel the chafing of his stumps where the gel inserts that lined his prosthetics had worn thin, or the soothing drag of Harry’s thumb across his knuckles. Somehow it all felt unreal, unimaginable that he’d be around to feel these sensations in the first place. He couldn’t be sure if he was cocooned in a dream, about to unravel the moment he pulled away from the rail.

“Hamish?”

Merlin moved his right hand to sandwich Harry’s left between his, gently tracing circles on the back of Harry’s hand until he could feel his partner’s fingers relaxing as the nerves ebbed away.

“I haven’t seen a sky like this in years.” Merlin murmured.

“We’ve seen a sunset like this once…I think.”

Merlin smiled sadly at Harry’s attempt to mask hesitancy with contemplativeness. Always with the show of confidence, even when they both knew the world had turned itself topsy turvy a hundred times over since they’d last shared a moment under the dusk sky.

“I know it doesn’t look the same –“he paused, keenly aware of the Harry’s singular eye as he caught himself before ‘to you’ slipped out. “But it is the same sky. And you’re overdue for your once-a-decade ice-skate.” Merlin lowered his head, failing to suppress a grin as Harry chuckled beside him. He didn’t need to turn and look to know that Harry’s cheeks would be flushed with more than just windchill and the glow of the setting sun.

“The Thames wouldn’t exactly be solid enough for an impromptu excursion I’m afraid. Or else I’d be happy to oblige” said Harry, his worry for Merlin’s legs seemingly having gone with the wind.

“I’m game if you are.” Merlin looked to Harry now, meeting his eye.

“We won’t be able to get back to the estate before nightfall.”

“Who said we had to go back to the estate? There’s a perfectly adequate rink at Somerset House fifteen minutes away.”

“In public? Nobody wants to see an old man making a fool of himself on the ice.”

“You’re assuming you’ll be the only old fool on ice? Make that two.”  

“You’re asking me for the impossible, _Merlin_.”

“And yet you’ve delivered every time, _Galahad_.”

Merlin broke away from the arm encircling his waist and took the hand in his, treading away but stopping short where Harry hesitated.

“Fortnum and Mason’s providing the refreshments for the rink.” He encouraged. “Champagne _and_ hot chocolate.”

Harry gave a heavy, resigned sigh and linked his arms with Merlin as they made their way off the balcony, the heated air from the museum whooshing through them and warming their bones as they stepped through the automatic sliding doors.

“You’re lucky I love you.” Harry said, with just a hint of a grumble.

Merlin couldn’t help but smirk. “I love you too.”

\---

This time people actively tried not to stop and stare, and largely failed.

Not because of an eyepatch, or prosthetic legs, but because the one without depth of field was trying to lead the one who hadn’t yet developed a proper sense of balance on rental skates and the couple kept falling over each other. The fact that they were laughing the whole way they skidded across the ice in a tangled heap didn’t exactly make them the most inconspicuous of pairs.

The way they’d acted was as if they’d let the whole world melt away, so it was just the two of them between the white ice and the peach sky.

And that assumption wouldn’t have been far from the truth.

**Author's Note:**

> Trivia/references:
> 
> 1\. _Skate at Somerset House_ in partnership with Fortnum and Mason is an actual pop up ice rink that runs throughout the winter in London. Their skate lodge serves mince pies and fondue for two in addition to the champagne and hot chocolate. 
> 
> 2\. The title is a reference to the Cameron Crowe sci-fi film _Vanilla Sky_ in which the protagonist is in a lucid dream complete with a "Vanilla Sky" he saw in a Claude Monet painting. The next fic in this series is written with this premise, so read on if you're intrigued!
> 
> 3\. I listened to "[It's Time to Dance](https://open.spotify.com/track/1hIZ2FAegeaUcCLWRfrhZW)" from the musical _The Prom_ on loop as mood music as I was writing this piece because it was so fluffy and unashamedly gay it seemed fitting. Its chorus directly influenced the inclusion of the final scene, as I was debating ending the fic after "I love you too" but decided it needed a little something extra.
> 
> Lyrics to chorus
> 
>  
> 
> _It's time to_  
>  _Build a prom for everyone_  
>  _Show them all it can be done_  
>  _If music blares and no one cares_  
>  _Who your unruly heart loves_
> 
>  
> 
> _Build it now_  
>  _Make people see how the world could one day be_  
>  _It might come true if we take a chance_
> 
>  
> 
> _But 'til that day comes_  
>  _I say cue the drums_  
>  _And take to the floor_  
>  _That's what the floor's for_  
>  _So turn up the bass_  
>  _Until the whole place_  
>  _Gets into the beat_  
>  _And has to repeat_  
>  _It's time to dance_  
> 


End file.
